The 2000s brought an increasing number of widely seen alien encounters. This led to widespread knowledge of alien life. Following the public revelation of alien life in the late 2000s suicide rates doubled. (TV: Children of Earth: Day One) In the following decade humanity continued to encounter more aliens and other supernatural events.

Contents

There were several attempted alien invasions, alien related actions, unspecified events, space time events and individual actions of Earth, into the atmosphere or surface by a multitude of races and species throughout this period.

In late 2003, BBC Wales announces that it will be producing a new live-action Doctor Who series, with Christopher Eccleston as the Ninth Doctor (the Richard Grant version of the character is abandoned). The series debuts in the spring of 2005 and almost instantly reinstates Doctor Who as a national institution.

BBC Books discontinues its line of Eighth Doctor and Past Doctor novels in favour of a new line of hardcover fiction featuring the Ninth (and later the Tenth) Doctor.

Big Finish Productions obtained the licence to publish the Short Trips book series.

In 2008, Tennant announces his departure from Doctor Who. Matt Smith, a largely unknown actor is cast as the Eleventh Doctor at the age of 26; he later debuts in 2010.

After four extremely successful seasons under the watch of Russell T Davies, Doctor Who goes on partial hiatus for 2009, producing a number of specials in lieu of a full season. This is to allow Davies to hand over production duties to Steven Moffat, and also pave the way for Tennant's departure.